1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a recording device for recording or printing various information such as images and letters on a card used as a recording medium by use of a replaceable ink ribbon cartridge containing a thermal-transfer ink ribbon, and more particularly to a recording device capable of allowing not only an ink ribbon cartridge but also a thermal printing head to be easily mounted into and demounted from the front of the device so as to insure ease of handling.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Into a thermal-transfer printer serving as a recording device for recording information such as letters and images on a card base of a credit card, license card, ID card or the like, an ink ribbon cartridge containing an expendable thermal-transfer ink ribbon is mounted replaceably.
The ink ribbon cartridge mounted in a conventional printer of this kind is generally replaced by opening an upper or front cover of the printer in various manners according to the type or structure of the printer. Such a cover is pivoted openably on the printer in order to easily take out the cartridge.
Infrequently, there has been a need for replacing a thermal printing head for effecting thermal-transfer printing due to damage or wear of the thermal printing head, but the thermal printing head could not easily be taken out from the recording device.
In order for moving the thermal printing head back and forth toward a card base during the process of recording information on the card base, the thermal printing head is usually united with a complicated head moving mechanism, and therefore, could not easily be disconnected from the head moving mechanism and taken out of the printer. That is, prior to taking out the thermal printing head from the printer, the head moving mechanism must be demounted from the printer.
There has been proposed a printer system capable of relatively easily replacing a thermal printing head in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Publications Nos. HEI 9-131944(A) and HEI 11-147348(A). The printer system so far proposed is provided with a head moving mechanism capable of being separated by opening upwardly an upper cover of the printer system in order to primarily take out the head therefrom.
This conventional head moving mechanism allows the thermal printing head to be easily taken out, but it disadvantageously adds to complexity of the printer system.
It is convenient to take out not only the ink ribbon cartridge but also the thermal printing head from the front side of the printer system, since the printer system having a front lid provided for taking in and out the printing head has little restrictions as to the surrounding space of the printer system. The printer system capable of demounting both the ink ribbon cartridge and thermal printing head from the front of the printer can conveniently be incorporated into any other device with ease and becomes easy to handle.
Thus, there has conventionally been a printer capable of demounting the printing head and the ink ribbon cartridge from the upper portion of the printer by opening the upper cover or lid of the printer, but there has been no contrivance capable of taking out the thermal printing head from the front of the printer. That is to say, the thermal printing head in the conventional thermal printer can be taken in and out in the direction in which the printing head moves back and forth toward the card placed on a platen roller at a recording position, but it is impossible to extract the thermal printing head perpendicular to the aforesaid direction in which the printing head moves back and forth toward to the card. In this manner, the conventional thermal printer capable of taking out the ink ribbon cartridge from the front of the printer irrationally necessitate an opening operation of the upper cover or lid of the printer to take in and out the printing head.
Even if the conventional thermal printer capable of taking out the ink ribbon cartridge from the front of the printer has a structure of enabling the thermal printing head to be taken out from the front of the printer, a mechanism for correctly and stably remounting the thermal printing head to a prescribed position within the printer is required, but it was thought of as difficult or impossible.